The Little Internet That Could

I knew you all were hot, but had no idea regarding your collective smarts. Within an hour of posting the house drama, I received numerous emails from lawyers, real estate agents (Mere, you rock), concerned readers, spouses of concerned readers with phone numbers of lawyers offering free help…it was overwhelming. Overwhelming. I might have even become a little choked up. Or it could have been my allergies.

You all were right on the money – California is a pro-tenant and pro-environmental green state. With your help, I constructed a letter fueled by my new knowledge of the California codes you mentioned (the quiet enjoyment clause? Hello? Not kidding about The Collective Smart.), ready to bust out phrases such as, “As set forth in X, the tenant is entitled to Y days notice prior to blahdeblah.” (Thanks, Danielle.) I stated our demands- which were payment for moving and storing all of our belongings, as well as 5 days of comparable housing OR holding money in escrow for the fumigation and giving us 30 days to find a new place to live.

We didn’t know what to expect, but regardless of the outcome, it was going to be a royal pain in the ass. Moving all of our stuff in and out of the house? Finding a new, equally-great place to live in just 30 days? Ugh. We stood our ground though, and it felt really good.

The Realtor called us yesterday evening, but we were too afraid to pick up the phone. She left a message mentioning a “positive outcome for all”, so we crossed our fingers and called back. She took our concerns and demands to the new owner, who replied that she was “adamant” about keeping us as renters and would NOT fumigate until we moved out, whether it be in 30 days, 1 year or however long we choose to stay. In the meantime, she would spot-treat the property. YES! Plus, she is not raising our rent. YES YES! We can stay in our beach bungalow sans toxic bombs! YES YES YES! (Not in writing yet. No jinxes, please.)

I really couldn’t have constructed that letter without your help. Your confidence that we could, in fact, prevent the tenting was all I needed to hear. I owe you a HUGE thank you.

Ok, that is as cheerleady as I get. Glad they saw the light! Glad they can spot treat (which I should have suggested since I know it can be done, it does not solve the prob as well as tenting – but that isn’t your problem!)

Funny story – a client tented their house in San Jose after buying it and THAT was the week that Google took the picture for Google Maps – so there is their house, all red and yellow and looking like a circus!

So glad everything worked out, because that sounded like a horrible situation to have to be in. Good luck, and I can’t wait to see Wito’s birthday pictures. I can’t believe he’s a year old already, it seems like he was born just a month or two ago!

I am so, so happy for you. I am constantly amazed by the power of the internet and the goodness of people. I’m so glad this worked out the way it did. Enjoy your non-fumigated home and rest easy knowing you don’t have to move until you are good and ready!

We are planning to stay for another year. As I type this, the termite people are here, replacing the infested wood with new wood. It’s definitely a win-win situation because the termites are still be taken care of, but no toxic fumigation will be performed. :)

I’m a little behind on my blog reading. So I was upset to read about the fumigations, but happy to read (2 minutes later) that it’s all worked out. Hooray for the interweb. And double hooray for sticking to your guns.